“Not much,” I said quickly. “A couple of shots, but I stopped early. I wanted to make sure she got home safe.”
His gaze softened just a fraction. “Good. I would’ve sent someone to pick you up if I’d known you were out that late.”
I smiled faintly at that. “You don’t have to worry about that. We have our trusted driver,” I explained.
Callan raised a brow. “What, like a private chauffeur?”
“He’s an Uber driver we met last year, and we’ve sort of become friends with him. So every time we go out, we call him because we know we can trust him.”
He didn’t look too convinced or happy, but he didn’t say more. When the silence started to bother me again, I said, “It was fun. Holland danced for hours. She’s the kind of person who can walk into a room and make everyone’s mood lift.”
“And did you dance?” He didn’t seem interested in what I said about Holland.
I cleared my throat. “I did. Eventually. It was loud and crowded, and I needed a second to adjust. But Holland being there helped me loosen up. It was nice. I needed it.”
He leaned back again, watching me with that quiet attention he always had. “You look like you did,” he said after a beat. “You look relaxed.”
“Yeah,” I said with a tight smile. “It helped clear my head a little.”
“From what?”
I hesitated. I could tell he, once again, already knew what I was going to say, and what I was avoiding. “From everything,” I said finally. “From the last few days. From you. From what happened.”
His jaw flexed slightly, but he didn’t interrupt. I forced myself to keep talking. “It’s been…a lot. I’m still trying to make sense of it.”
“Do you regret it?”
I shook my head before I could think too long about it. “No. I don’t regret it.” My voice came out steadier than I felt. “I just need a little time to process it all. That’s all. It’s all new to me. But I like it.”
“What exactly do you like?”
I knew what he wanted to hear from me, and he probably thought I wouldn’t, but I cleared my throat and said it out loud. “Being your fluffer. It’s new and exciting, and I’m glad I said yes to it.”
Next to the amusement flashing in his eyes, there was a hint of pride in them too. Despite never having been very close, he kept acting like he had some unspoken responsibility toward me. Like he was watching over me in ways he couldn’t quite explain to himself.
“Good.” That’s all he said.
It wasn’t a lot, but it was enough for me. His expression gave me the reassurance I had secretly been looking for, and that made me feel safe around him and what we were creating between us.
I could feel the exhaustion creeping in now that the adrenaline of being near him had faded. My eyelids felt heavy, and my body sank deeper into the couch. I rubbed my temple and let out a small breath. “I should go to sleep. It’s late.”
He didn’t argue. “Get some rest.”
I stood and brushed down my skirt. I hesitated for a moment before glancing at him again. “Goodnight, Callan.”
His voice was low when he answered. “Goodnight, Lana.”
20
Lana
I felt good the next morning, and I had to thank my responsible side for that. I only remembered one night of extreme alcohol consumption where I felt sick even three days after, but last night, I had stopped when I knew it had been enough. Holland, on the other hand, was severely hungover. We sat in the back row of the lecture hall, where Professor Hayes talked to us about yet another black and white movie nobody had ever heard of, and I tried to focus as much as I could. Holland’s groaning was distracting though.
She was sitting low in her chair, with dark circles under her eyes, and her hair knotted into a messy bun at the top of her head. I pursed my lips and leaned closer. “Have you looked at yourself in the mirror this morning?”
“No, and I don’t want to for another week because I know I’m a mess.”
“You look like death,” I teased, sliding a bottle of water toward her.
